---
title: "Check requirements | Grafana Labs"
description: "Verify that your PostgreSQL database, Grafana Cloud account, and Alloy installation meet the requirements for Database Observability."
---

# Check requirements

Before starting the setup, verify that your environment meets the requirements for Database Observability. Getting these right upfront prevents troubleshooting later.

## Grafana Cloud requirements

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| Requirement            | Details                                                                                           |
|------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Account                | Grafana Cloud account with Editor or Admin role                                                   |
| Database Observability | Activated in your Grafana Cloud stack. Go to **Databases** in the navigation menu to activate it. |
| Stack                  | Access to Grafana Cloud Mimir (metrics) and Grafana Cloud Loki (logs) data sources                |
| Permissions            | Ability to view and create dashboards                                                             |

## PostgreSQL requirements

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| Requirement          | Details                                                                                                      |
|----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Version              | PostgreSQL 14.0 or later                                                                                     |
| pg\_stat\_statements | Extension must be enabled (requires adding to `shared_preload_libraries`)                                    |
| Connection           | Alloy must connect directly to the database host — avoid load balancers or connection poolers like PgBouncer |
| Monitoring user      | User with `pg_monitor` and `pg_read_all_stats` roles                                                         |

## Grafana Alloy requirements

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| Requirement     | Details                                          |
|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Version         | Grafana Alloy 1.15.0 or later                    |
| Network         | Outbound access to Grafana Cloud endpoints       |
| Database access | Network connectivity to your PostgreSQL instance |

## Checklist

Before proceeding, verify:

- Grafana Cloud account is active with appropriate permissions
- Database Observability is activated in your Grafana Cloud stack
- PostgreSQL version is 14.0 or later
- Network connectivity exists between the Alloy host and your PostgreSQL database
- Network connectivity exists between the Alloy host and Grafana Cloud
- You have administrative access to create a PostgreSQL monitoring user
- Alloy connects directly to the database, not through a load balancer or PgBouncer

In the next milestone, you’ll prepare your PostgreSQL database for monitoring.